A crowd gathered outside the Knesset Tuesday to rally for missing girl Haymanot Kasau, calling on the police to classify her as kidnapped rather than missing and involve the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in searches for her.
Protesters also called on the police to form a special investigative team to search for the missing girl.
The rally was held one year and one month after Haymanot, then just nine years old, disappeared from the Safed absorption center, where she lived with her family after they had immigrated from Ethiopia.
On Sunday, February 25, 2024, Haymanot went on an annual school trip and returned home around 4:00 p.m. After that, she went to an activity at the absorption center and then continued to play with her friends.
She was last seen on a security camera at the entrance to the reception center at 7 p.m., wearing a pink sweatshirt with a black skirt over it and white sneakers.
Haymanot’s parents called on the public to join Tuesday’s rally for the missing girl.
Witness testimony
Last August, her father, Tesfaye Kasau, told the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee that a friend of his daughter had been a witness to the kidnapping.
“A friend of Haymanot gave an accurate description of a man with sidelocks who grabbed Haymanot, put her on his back, and ran away. The same person tried to grab Haymanot’s friend as well, but she ran away in time. The girl gave this testimony to the police and her teacher,” he said. However, the police denied such claims.
While police are working to find Haymanot, they are not doing enough, her father told the committee last month.
“Changing her status from missing to kidnapped would expand the resources police could dedicate to finding Haymanot,” he told the committee.
According to police, 60-70 actions related to the search have been taken in the past two months. Unfortunately, they have not turned up information.
Tesfaye also highlighted the responsibility of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, saying that they, too, are not doing enough.
“Pictures of my daughter with a hotline for providing information should be spread everywhere until she is found,” he said.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.